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Public should be told more about VIA plot: DiManno

He clasped and unclasped his hands, fingers fidgeting as if clicking absent prayer beads.

He craned his neck to make eye contact with family members in the small crowded courtroom.

He spoke aloud only in response to a direct query from a justice of the peace, in a strong and booming voice, indicating his understanding of the procedure.

“It’s very clear!’’

In fact, there’s no clarity to these shocking events at all, scant details contained in the information sheet sworn out by the RCMP in relation to Monday’s twin arrests and a minimalist posture taken by law agencies even as they went public with some very alarming allegations about Al Qaeda insinuating itself into Canada, if only in a consulting capacity.

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Like a terrorist HQ advising franchise operatives.

Among the befuddled are the mother and father of accused terrorism suspect Raed Jaser, who had his first — brief — court appearance Tuesday morning, up and down within five minutes before being remanded in custody. Just long enough for those in attendance to stare hard at a defendant accused of co-planning godawful crimes, looking for some outward indicator, a tell, that might afford even a small clue — in demeanour — about the thoughts in his head, ideas that allegedly included targeting a passenger train for derailment.

But he was just a man in an ill-fitting charcoal blazer, gaunt, with close-cropped black hair and heavy beard.

Not a boy-man, though, unlike the teens and males in their early 20s who’ve either been convicted in Canadian courts on terrorism-related charges or lured into jihad overseas, their youth and naïve susceptibility posited as explanatory factors for falling under the deranging influence of Islamic radicalism.

Jaser is 35 years old and married.

A woman believed to be his wife, all but her eyes hidden behind a niqab, body swathed in black abaya, attended in court with another similarly attired female. This is common dress for pious Muslim women when they step outside their homes, if still infrequently seen in Toronto. Jaser’s mother wore a white hijab and trousers. She adjusted the younger women’s niqabs, securely tucking the fabric around their faces with maternal fussiness before the trio of ladies stepped outside the courthouse, besieged by media as they strode quickly away with mumbled “no comments.”

Jaser’s father, Mohamed, trailed a pack of reporters in a different direction and an observer felt some pity for all of the family members drawn into public scrutiny — middle brother, geeky little brother, the patriarch in his tweed newsboy cap who clearly struggled to retain his dignity as reporters hurled questions: “I’m here to support my son,’’ he said politely. “Let the police do their job.’’

Police maintain they have done exactly that by foiling a scheme to attack a commuter train, reportedly the Maple Leaf, jointly operated by VIA and Amtrak, that runs daily between Toronto and New York City — a plot, says the RCMP, which was supported “in the form of direction and guidance’’ by Al Qaeda in Iran, the first time any such allegation has been made in Canada.

Unlike his co-accused, Chiheb Esseghaier — arrested at the McDonald’s outlet in Montreal’s train station Monday, brought to Toronto, then returned to Quebec because law enforcement officials had carelessly failed to obtain the court permission required to transport the suspect out-of-province, but headed back here again — little is known about Jaser and nothing about how their orbits crossed. What is known, however, is that Jaser is not unfamiliar with the arrest and court appearance playbook.

Jaser — or at least someone with the same name and the same birth date — was charged with fraud under $5,000 in 1996, in Brampton, in relation to an alleged offence two years earlier, according to court records. On Dec. 16, 2000, in Richmond Hill, Jaser was charged with threatening death or bodily harm and convicted five months later, receiving two years of probation and fined $1,000. At that time, a further charge of breach of probation with withdrawn.

While Jaser has been described in various published reports as a Palestinian who held a passport issued by the United Arab Emirates, his lawyer refused to reveal where the accused is from, emphasizing only that Jaser has lived in Canada for two decades and has permanent resident status.

“He’s in a state of shock and disbelief,’’ said John Norris, after huddling with his client for about 30 minutes in the cells beneath the Old City Hall courthouse. “He’s anxious to see the evidence that the Crown says it has against him.’’

So would we all, but that can take ages as the case winds its way through the courts. Jaser’s next scheduled appearance, via video-link, is May 23. Bail application will be made later in Ontario Superior Court.

Norris, who’s made a niche career out of defending individuals accused of terrorism crimes, was quick, though, to politicize the timing of the arrest, one week after the Boston Marathon bombings and on the same day that the House of Commons was debating new anti-terrorism provisions promised by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government.

That’s the other alleged plot and law enforcement, Norris clearly implied, is in cahoots.

“The timing of the arrest is a bit of a mystery and certainly I would like to hear the RCMP’s explanation for that. They’ve been very clear that there was no risk of public safety and it’s surprising, to say the least, that this arrest would be made now, close on the heels of the events in Boston and timed perfectly with what was happening in the House of Commons yesterday.’’

Revealing Jaser’s origin, Norris claimed, would merely reinforce . . . well, what? That’s a detail Jaser seems to fear disclosing as he continues to spin what sounds very much like a vague conspiracy theory.

“For reasons only they know, the police in their press conference thought it appropriate to raise the issue of my client’s status in Canada.

“It’s quite regrettable that police chose to make an issue of that. It seems intended in the current climate to simply demonize my client.’’

What a ridiculous statement.

The word “demonizing’’ is itself provocative and Norris used it deliberately as he starts to make a case that he insists everyone else shouldn’t make prematurely, as if only lawyers understand the difference between accused and guilty.

“In the current climate, whether that was their intention or not, that’s the inevitable effect of focusing on somebody’s citizenship in a case of this nature.’’

The timing of the arrest is indeed interesting but not for the reasons that Norris puts forward.

“Project Smooth” — the operation that led to Monday’s arrest and undertaken after a tip from a member of the Muslim community — had been in effect for at least eight months. Jaser and Esseghaier were obviously under surveillance, recorded allegedly scoping out trains and railways in the GTA. Yet the information sheet sworn out by the RCMP refers to the men’s activities, “the one with the other, to murder persons unknown’’ and for “the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist group’’ between April 1 and Sept. 25, 2012. Esseghaier alone is charged with terrorism acts that extend to Feb. 14 of this year.

It’s simply not enough for the RCMP to leave it at that, ladling out a spoonful of information along with assurances which docile Canadians are expected to take on faith that the public was never at risk.

Contrary to what Norris would have you believe, the public should be told more, not less.

Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

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